Vent Picking! Bloody Bum! Isolation/reintroduction questions...Help!

[arwmommy]

We are having a problem I am hoping you can help with. We have a 2 week old who had a bit of a bloody bum. She was clearly being picked by one of the other chicks, so I removed her, cleaned her up, put neosporin on her, and placed her back in the brooder so I could get an isolation box together. In 20 minutes she (mostly) and others had picked her vent so bad it now is devoid of feathers all together and very red and nasty looking (see photo). I have now removed her, reapplied neosporin and she will be completely isolated for a bit.......... however, this does not solve the problem of her self-picking! How do I solve that?

Also, if she is isolated for a few days, will that create problems for her when she is reintroduced?? How can I make that easier on everyone and make sure that she doesn't get automatically picked on again??

Should I try to isolate her within the current brooder so she can be with the rest of the flock, but still be safe?? It is easier for me to isolate her completely seperatly, but I think this is not the best choice for reintroduction issues.

Also, how long does she need to be isolated for? Will it take forever for those feathers to regrow???

(((sigh))))

 

[eggchel]

You may end up making the decision whether to isolate her within the brooder or completely separately based on how much she cries.

She will need to be isolated until she is completely healed with no red on her bum. Not necessarily until all the feathers grow back in. You could put some blue coat on her bum after it is healed to help keep the others from picking.
I dont know whether blue coat will help with the self-picking or not.

When you are ready to reintroduce her, either section off part of the brooder for a couple days for her, or try putting one chick at a time in with her until you see that she isnt being picked.

chel

 

[arwmommy]

Well, she is now isolated within the brooder, but when she wouldn't stop picking on herself, I ran her to my vet and had them make her and E-Collar. We had a dwarf hamster have surgery last year, and she wore a tiny E-Collar for a week! So they threw one on the chick! She HATES IT!!! But her bum is healing nicely.

I have been having to hand feed her food and water every few hours though, as it is almost impossible to eat with one on, but she seems to be doing well.

Will post a pic when I have a chance!

 

[ChrissyNC]

One of my girls just recently started getting picked on her neck and her tail until she was bloody. When I isolated her, I noticed that she was picking on her tail, so it wasn't just the others. I put BluKote on her neck and tail and she hasn't really messed with it since. (Just be careful applying it, I couldn't get it off my hands for a few days). I also heard that you can put something with a bittering agent on the featherless areas, like Bitter Apple. I think I will put this on her when I reintroduce her, once the bloody areas are all healed up.

 

[Juliechickens]

I'm having the same exact issue with one of my babies heads! In the back of the head it's raw and red where the others have pecked it

I applied neosporin and blue Kote and put her/him in another brooder pen with 3 other smaller chicks. She's doing better but not healing up yet. I hope it will be better soon. Breaks your heart!
P.S. To remove blue kote from your own hands, use alcohol prep pad or just rubbing alcohol and rub it off your hands. Mcmurry sales the blue kote by the way if you are looking for it.
Julie